


stay close to me

by gentlyqueer



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Human Catra (She-Ra), Mutual Pining, Rated M for language and maybe some makeout scenes later?, Slow Burn, a little bit of angst but it ends happy i promise, some fun shenanigans will be had
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:48:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27756409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gentlyqueer/pseuds/gentlyqueer
Summary: “You guyyysss, I’m so glad you found us!!” Adora gushed, suddenly going to stand up. As soon as she did, she started to wobble, and Catra reflexively went to steady her. “But SHHHH, we’re still hiding from Scorpia!!”“Hiding from who?” Scorpia questioned, suddenly towering in the doorway behind them. “Ooh, were we playing hide and seek? I love that game! Do I get to hide next?” she asked excitedly.Catra groaned. She was surrounded by a bunch of drunk, peppy people, at a crowded party that she didn’t want to be at, and it was all Adora’s fault.or, it's a college au, Adora's a lightweight, and two weeks into freshman year, someone's already caught feelings for her best friend.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 97





	1. 1 // call you up late at night

“Scorpia. Where’s Adora?”

“Ooh-- well, see, that’s a great question that I wish I could answer, but truthfully? I don’t know,” Scorpia shrugged. “BUT, because I’m your friend, I’m going to find out.”

Catra groaned. “I asked you to watch Adora while I got a drink, and I was gone for _less than a minute_ and you already lost her?” Catra would have buried her face in her hands if it wasn’t for the cups she was holding.

“It’s fine,” Catra interrupted before her roommate had the chance to jump into what was sure to be another minute-long speech. She held one of her drink-filled hands up to Scorpia’s face to stop her. “I’ll go find Adora,” she grumbled, slinking off into the crowd.

Catra deftly maneuvered through the veritable horde of drunk people that were crowding the party. God knows why she was even here-- this was all Adora’s idea, after all. She’d been complaining that they were 2 weeks into their freshman year and hadn’t been to any “real parties” yet.

“Don’t you like, hang out with people all the time?” Catra had responded when Adora first brought the topic up yesterday. Adora was looking in the mirror on her closet door, fiddling with the hair that refused to stay pinned back to her head in her hair bump.

“Yeah, but that’s _different,_ ” Adora had protested, with a bobby pin hanging out the side of her mouth. “We’re in college now. Classes are going to actually start giving homework soon, and before that happens I want to do something fun like a regular, non-responsible student. Plus, it would be nice to hang out with everyone,” She finally managed to pin back the stray hair that’d been escaping her. Satisfied, she turned back towards Catra, who was sitting cross-legged on her bed.

“If all your new friends are going to be there, why do you insist on me going, too?” Catra parried with an eye roll. “You know how much I hate crowds. Especially a bunch of smelly, drunk people packed into a tiny frat house.” She nearly shuddered at the thought.

“It wouldn’t be as much fun without you, duh,” Adora said, placing a hand on her hip and shooting Catra a pointed look. “They’re your new friends too. Besides, you know how much I love torturing you, so it’s perfect.” Despite her deadpan tone, Adora’s words were too endearing to be taken at face value. “Come on. You have to,” she said, turning back towards the mirror to fix a new stray hair that had just escaped the pins.

Catra waited a few moments to consider the alternatives. If she didn’t go to this, her night would be boring. She’d probably be sitting in her dorm room alone, or trying to drown out whatever Scorpia and Entrapta were getting into. She sighed. “Fine. But know that I’m only doing this to make sure you don’t get yourself into trouble,” Catra groaned, but she didn’t miss seeing Adora’s eyes light up.

“Doesn’t matter why you’re going, and I won’t get myself into trouble. But we’re going to have so much fun!”  
Catra rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well I doubt that.”

Snapping out of her daydream, she remembered that she was, in fact, not having fun right now. She’d gone to get herself and Adora another drink, and in the 40 seconds that she’d been gone Scorpia had somehow already lost track of her. Her eyes darted around the crowded room trying to detect any sign of her friend. Just as she started to head off towards the back door to the patio, she heard Adora’s laugh and her ears perked up. She focused on the sound, and despite the loud music and dozens of conversations, she began to head in the direction the laughter was coming from. It got louder and louder as she approached a closed door. _God, I just can’t wait to see what’s happening in here_ , she echoed sarcastically in her head.

Drinks in hand, she pushed the door open with her foot. She was met with the sight of Adora, Bow, and Glimmer sitting on a bed, doubled over in rounds of laughter. Adora was laughing so hard that she was snorting, and Bow looked like he was ready to cry. She stood in the doorway for several seconds before they even noticed her presence.

“Catraaa!” Adora shouted. “I’m glad you’re here! We were just talking about you,” Adora launched into another round of giggles. Bow wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.

“Lovely,” Catra responded, walking over and motioning for Bow to scoot over so she could sit next to Adora. “Can’t wait to hear all about it. I don’t know how you even got away from Scorpia that quickly.”

“Oh, Scorpia? I forgot we were HIDING from her,” Adora said, mock-shushing Bow and Glimmer. It only made them start cracking up again. 

Catra rolled her eyes and held out the red plastic cup expectantly. “Look, do you want this drink I got for you, or not?” Adora grabbed the cup from her eagerly and took a sip. Catra set her own drink down on the table next to the bed.

“Uh, whose room is this, anyway?” Catra asked, looking around at the nondescript bedroom. Adora shrugged. “The door was open, so we came in to sit down, and to hide from Scorpia,” Glimmer cut in with a grin.

“Yeah, well I’m sure whoever lives here is going to love that.” Catra’s eyes went back to Adora, who was already halfway done with her drink. 

“Jeez, okay dumbass, slow down,” Catra complained. Adora shook her head no and kept steadily downing the drink. Catra quickly grabbed it back out of her hands, somehow managing not to spill over the two of them, and placed it on the bedside table out of Adora’s reach. Adora pouted a bit but quickly recovered when Bow started telling a new story.

Just then, a few more figures appeared in the doorway. A tall guy with a mustache, a girl with teal hair, a shorter girl with a black bob, and a taller girl with long shimmering gold hair. She’d met all of them recently, but had been having a hell of a time trying to match the new names to the faces. 

“You guyyysss, I’m so glad you found us!!” Adora gushed, suddenly going to stand up. As soon as she did so, she started to wobble, and Catra reflexively went to steady her. “But SHHHH, we’re still hiding from Scorpia!!”

“Hiding from who?” Scorpia questioned, suddenly towering in the doorway behind them. “Ooh, were we playing hide and seek? I love that game! Do I get to hide next?” she asked excitedly.

Catra groaned. She was surrounded by a bunch of drunk, peppy people, at a crowded party that she didn’t want to be at, and it was all Adora’s fault. 

Adora sat back down on the bed, bouncing a bit as she landed. She laid back with her feet on the floor but her gaze transfixed on the ceiling. She looked a little worse for wear, with eyes glazed over and cheeks flushed from the alcohol.

“Okay. You know what, Adora, look at me,” Catra grumbled. “How many drinks have you had, anyway?” Adora started holding up fingers as if trying to remember, but dropped her hand and shrugged again. “Like 6 maybe?” She wrinkled her nose up as if expending significant mental effort on the question. 

“Glimmer, do you remember?” Glimmer shook her head and giggled, sending Adora into another round of side-splitting laughter.

“Jesus, when did you even drink all that? If I knew you couldn’t handle yourself, I would’ve been paying more attention,” Catra replied. She thought Adora had been on drink number 3 or 4. When she’d left to go get them more drinks, Adora had been drunk, but not this drunk. “Come on, sit up. I need to know you’re not going to be sick or anything.” 

Adora sat up lazily, and immediately let her head fall onto Catra’s shoulder. “Mmm, you’re warm and you smell nice,” Adora mumbled, nuzzling her nose into Catra’s jacket. Catra’s nostrils were suddenly assaulted by the scent of Adora’s fruity shampoo. It was the same brand that Adora had used in high school, so at this point it was a familiar smell, a smell that had firmly claimed its place in Catra’s mind as _Adora’s_.

“Okay, well I think it might be time we get you home. You know, before you can’t walk and I have to carry you,” Catra replied, unsuccessfully trying to push Adora into an upright position. Adora flopped back down onto her shoulder, looking dejected.

“But I don’t wanna leave yet, I’m having so much funnnn,” she whined, her hand reaching out to hold Glimmer’s. “And it’s fun hanging out with our new friends too!” She gestured towards Scorpia and the others standing in the doorway.

“You’ll see them tomorrow, I promise. Come on Adora, let’s go.” Catra stood up.

“Ugh. Okayyy,” Adora pouted, her eye roll almost comically exaggerated. She put her hands out in front of her expectantly. Catra sighed, grabbing her hands and helping her to her feet. As soon as Adora was standing, she began to sway again, and Catra put a hand on her shoulder to keep her upright.

She waited a minute while Adora hugged everyone goodbye, gushing about how great of friends they all were to her. She assured Bow and Glimmer that she’d text them when she was back home safe. Catra checked her phone. It wasn’t even that late, and Adora was already out of commission for the night. She didn’t think she’d be such a lightweight. She knew Adora wasn’t much of a drinker, but with her height and relatively muscular build, she’d assumed that her tolerance wouldn't be this abysmally bad. Come to think of it, though, she’d never seen Adora drink more than a few beers— Ms. Goody Two Shoes has avoided alcohol like the plague through 90% of high school— so she guessed this was par for the course.

“Bye everybody!” Adora called in a sing-song voice as they walked out of the room. “Stay with me, princess,” Catra teased over her shoulder as Adora followed. She felt Adora’s hand slip into her own before she had the chance to walk away. They wove through the crowd together, and although Catra was shorter than Adora, she managed to elbow her way through the drunk people to make it out the front door. She felt the warmth of Adora’s hand drop away as soon as they were outside.

The din of the party faded as they exited, and she could feel the night air cool and damp across her face. Catra took a deep breath in, relieved at the space to move around and the fresh air. She turned around only to see Adora looking shaky again. Just before Adora fell, Catra managed to grab her and steady her again.

“Sorry,” Adora mumbled. “Things got more dizzy when I stood up.” Her eyes looked like they were half-closed.

“You sure you’re gonna be fine to walk?” Catra questioned more seriously now. She could probably carry Adora if she needed to, but it wouldn’t be very comfortable for either of them. Especially since her apartment was a hike from this part of campus. 

“Mmmhmm,” Adora murmured, her head nodding jerkily as she threw an arm around Catra’s shoulders. Catra sighed, and her hand instinctively wrapped around Adora’s waist as she felt her start to wobble again. This was going to be a long walk.

They walked for a while without saying anything, making their way towards the main campus residences. Adora hummed quietly, and Catra could feel the heat radiating off of her. Ten long minutes later, as they approached the building, Adora lazily tossed her the keys to her door and they ascended the stairs to the second floor. Outside of her room, Catra let Adora lean against the stucco wall while she unlocked the door with a metallic click. She was grateful that Adora had hit the jackpot with scholarship housing, and had been granted her own private room and bathroom. Unlike Catra, who’d gotten stuck in regular-ass dorms, in a triple occupancy room no less, and a bathroom shared between 15 people. She shuddered at the thought of having to weave between talkative freshmen who were eager to make friends when all she wanted was to take a shower.

“Alright, we’re here,” Catra said, resuming her spot under Adora’s shoulders to guide her in the room. Adora immediately made her way over to the bed on the far side of the room and flopped down face-first.

“Mmmm. Bed feels nice,” she murmured, her voice muffled as her face pressed against the sheets. Catra turned around and fished out a cup from one of the cabinets to get Adora some water.

“Too warm,” Adora whined over the hum of the kitchen tap.

“Well, I’m getting you some water, so just chill for a sec,” Catra replied over her shoulder. As she flicked off the tap and turned around, she nearly jumped out of her own skin at the sight of Adora taking her shirt off. She had to react quickly so as not to drop the glass she was holding out of sheer surprise.

“Jesus-- what the fuck are you doing?” Catra slammed the cup down on the counter, darted past her, and lunged over the bed to lower the window shade, which had been left wide open. Adora’s room faced out towards the main walkway next to the building, which normally would be filled with students going to and from class. Luckily, at this weird of a time on a Friday night-- late enough that people were out already, but early enough that people weren’t getting back yet-- there was no one to see Adora. “At least give me a warning or something, fuck,” Catra complained. Her voice felt a little shaky in a way that matched her irregular heart rate. 

She turned around slower this time, trying to keep her eyes cast downwards to avoid looking at her friend. Adora, meanwhile, threw her shirt down on the floor. “It’s fiiiiine. It’s not like my boobs are out or anything,” she said, a little too loud, as she gestured to her gray sports bra. Catra quickly made her way past Adora to the counter where she’d left the glass of water. Desperate for something else to do other than look at her friend’s incredibly toned stomach, she grabbed another cup to pour herself some water too.

“Okay, well, that’s not the point, but you’re welcome for closing the window. You don’t want some creep to see you. At least next time let me know before you start getting naked,” Catra replied over her shoulder as the second glass filled with water. Fuck. Not how I meant for that to come out. She prayed that Adora couldn’t see the flush that she could feel creeping up to her cheeks. Luckily, as she turned around to set the glasses down on the table, Adora didn’t seem to notice. She was too preoccupied peeling her leggings off, which she proceeded to toss over Catra’s head (narrowly missing her face) in the vague direction of the laundry basket.

Adora stood triumphantly in her sports bra and underwear for a moment, as if proud she’d won the fight against her leggings, before flopping back down onto the bed. “Mmm. Much better,” she commented, her face pressed up against the pillow.

“Great. Well, if you’re done, I need you to sit up again so you can drink some water.” Adora groaned in protest but pulled herself back up, accepting the glass. She took a long sip and sighed in contentment. “Y’know how water tastes so good when you haven’t had any in like, a while?”

“Yeah, sure,” Catra responded, very aware that Adora was pantsless now. She was wearing underwear that looked like shorts, so she wasn’t indecent or anything, but it still wasn’t something Catra was used to seeing. They’d changed together in locker rooms before, but there were always other things to look at to distract her. She quickly brushed by her to grab the remote and switch on the TV. “That’ll happen when you take a bunch of shots and don’t drink any water. Drink up, princess.”

Catra plopped down on the floor in front of the TV, taking a few sips of water from her own glass out of obligation. A minute or two passed in relative quiet as Adora finished her glass of water.

“Hey. Hey. Heeeey, Catra. Come here,” Adora whispered loudly. She patted the spot next to her on the bed. Sitting down next to her, Catra could really feel the heat radiating off her skin-- no wonder she’d been so warm in all those clothes— and could smell the alcohol on her breath. “I HAVE A SECRET TO TELL YOU,” Adora whisper-shouted.

“Hit me with it,” Catra mumbled, pushing her face away a bit. What she didn’t expect was for Adora to grab her shirt collar and pull her in. They were only inches apart now, and she could feel Adora’s lips clumsily brushing against her ear. The sensation sent a shiver down her spine.

“You’re pretty cute,” Adora giggled, and Catra pulled away instinctively. 

“Shut up! You’re so weird when you’re drunk.”

“Nope, no, it’s true,” Adora said, slapping Catra’s arm playfully. Despite being in this state of intoxication, she was still surprisingly strong. “Ask me tomorrow when I’m not drunk, and I’ll say the same thing, I promise.”

Her voice sounded sincere, but Catra pushed down the nervousness that was clawing its way up her throat. Who was she kidding? This was her best friend. If she wasn’t fucking with her— and she probably was-- then Adora was drunk, delirious, or a combination of the two. It’s not like she was actually being serious.

“Well I’m just glad you didn’t throw up or anything,” Catra dodged the topic as she stood up. “I should probably head back to my place, and you should probably go to sleep,” She began to collect her wallet and keys from the table. When her eyes met Adora’s, she felt a pang of guilt as her friend looked like she was going to cry. “Wha-- what’s wrong?” she stammered. Her instinct to protect Adora kicked in, and she felt herself bristling in preparation to fight whoever caused her pain.

“You’re not going to stay?” Adora’s eyes were sparkling, and she had that puppy-dog-eyes look-- the one that always made Catra concede to what she wanted. Catra relaxed a bit when she realized she didn’t have to kick the shit out of anyone. 

“Seriously?” She cocked her head to the side, placing a hand on her hip. “That’s what you’re getting all choked up about? It’s not like I just spent the whole night with you or anything.”

Adora pouted. “I’m only going to sleep if you stay here.” She crossed her arms, in a way that reminded Catra of the stubborn kid she’d grown up with.

Catra stared her down for a second. Once Adora had made up her mind, she wouldn’t be persuaded otherwise. “Ugh, fine,” Catra said, feigning an eye roll even though she much preferred staying over to walking home by herself. She threw her hands up in mock exasperation for extra effect. “If it gets you to sleep, I guess I’ll stay.” Adora smiled smugly, clearly satisfied with herself, and dropped her arms to her side.

“Borrow a shirt if you wanna,” Adora commented with a vague wave in the direction of the dresser. Seemingly content, she leaned back down into the pile of pillows on her bed, and her eyes flitted to the TV.

Catra tossed her wallet and keys back on the table before shrugging off her jacket and throwing it lazily on top. Rummaging through a few drawers, she found some makeshift pajamas and ducked into the bathroom to change. 

Once she’d slipped into the oversized t-shirt and shorts, she emerged from the bathroom, tossed her old clothes under the table, and flipped the main room lights off. In the absence of the overhead fluorescents, the room was illuminated by the warmth of the christmas lights that Adora had tacked up on the walls. The TV cast a soft wash of changing light on Adora’s face, too. Catra went to sit on the floor in front of the bed, but Adora scooched over and patted the bed next to her. Catra sat down beside her, as she’d done countless times before, but her heart skipped a beat as Adora wrapped the blanket around them both.

“Hey, you should take your ponytail out,” Catra remarked, jerking her chin in Adora’s direction. She was trying desperately to distract herself from the odd jitters that were building deep in her stomach. Instead, she thought about how few people saw Adora without her signature ponytail. Ever-practical Adora always wore her hair out of her face. She even pinned her bangs back in that weird little bump that Catra loved teasing her about.  
Adora turned her head, fiddling with the pins that held her bangs in place but seemingly having trouble in the absence of a mirror. After a few seconds, she let out a frustrated groan, clearly tired.

“Alright, alright, come here,” Catra muttered, gingerly placing her hands in Adora’s hair to retrieve the pins. As the pins were removed, Adora’s bangs fell across her face in a gentle swoop. She nodded in appreciation and tugged on the elastic holding her ponytail together. As she did so, golden hair cascaded over her shoulders. Adora rustled her fingers through her tresses as she shook out her hair, clearly grateful that it was no longer tightly brushed back after a long day. The move made Catra chuckle, eliciting a grin from Adora.

Adora laid back down, still facing the TV. A few minutes went by with little said, save for the quiet music and dialogue of whatever channel they’d turned on. Admittedly, Catra hadn’t been paying much attention to the show since it started. Her mind seemed determined to replay the events of tonight, with an annoyingly insistent focus on when Adora started taking her shirt off.

“You gonna sleep soon?” Catra asked, seeing Adora’s eyes getting heavy. Adora nodded slowly. She tugged on Catra’s wrist, motioning her to lay down in front of her. “Wha-- okay,” Catra protested only for a moment as she realized what was happening. Adora snuggled up behind her, and Catra could feel her pressed up against her back. The dorm beds were long but narrow, and she was glad that it was dark and she was facing the other direction so that Adora wouldn’t see whatever dumb, embarrassed face she was making.

Her heart skipped another beat as she felt one of Adora’s hands tangle lazily in her hair. They were laying close now, with Catra facing towards the TV and Adora laying behind her. Adora absentmindedly twirled her curls in her fingers, and despite the weird fluttering in her stomach she could feel her breath starting to slow down a bit. _It’s fine_ , she tried to reassure herself. _It’s just Adora_.

After a few minutes of trying to force herself to calm down, Catra felt Adora’s fingers slow their twirling and finally stop. She yawned, stretched a bit, and her arm snaked around Catra’s hips. As quickly as she’d thought to rest her hand on top of Adora’s, she forced it back down. _Adora is your friend, and nothing more_ , she reminded herself. _Don’t do anything stupid._

“Catra?” Adora’s hazy voice interrupted her thoughts. Startled, Catra tried not to jump but felt her shoulders twitch from the effort. Warm breath grazed the back of her neck, making her hair stand on end. Catra mustered up all her willpower to answer unfazed.

“Yeah?” She answered weakly in her best attempt at nonchalance. 

“Promise you’ll stay here tonight?” Adora asked, her voice soft and sweet as honey.

Catra let out a breathy laugh; that was an easy answer. “Duh.”

Adora sighed contentedly and nuzzled her face into the mess of brown curls. What seemed like moments later, Catra heard her breathing become slower and more steady, and felt the hand on her hip go slack. By the way Adora’s chest rose and fell against Catra’s back, she knew she’d fallen asleep.

Catra let out a tiny sigh. _What the hell am I even doing here_ , she questioned, wanting to bury her face in her hands but not wanting to move or wake Adora. She considered sneaking out of her grasp and going back to her dorm, but remembered Adora’s face when she had asked her to stay. She sighed, trying to relax. All she could do was think about Adora or anticipate the embarrassment that would come tomorrow. 

As she tried to calm herself, Catra’s mind swam with thoughts of that night. Adora leaning on her at the party, throwing her arm around Catra’s shoulders on the walk home, Adora taking her shirt off— god— her fingers twirling in Catra’s hair, her arm around her waist, her hot breath on her neck, and her lips brushing against her ear. 

“ _Fuck_ ,” Catra hissed quietly. She was reeling, and she didn’t know how to make it stop or what to do about Adora. How Adora did these little stupid things that the more she thought about, the more her heart raced. She tried desperately to picture something else to take her mind off it. But when she closed her eyes, all she saw was the goofy grin on Adora’s face.

\--  
When Adora woke the next morning, the first thing she remembered was that her head fucking hurt.

She’d slept fitfully, tossing and turning between restless dreams. When the early morning light had come streaming in, determined to make her headache worse, she’d used one of her extra pillows to smother out the light.

The next time she’d woken up, she had heard the sound of a kettle coming to a boil. Only the smell of freshly made coffee could get her to brave the sunlight to investigate.

When she’d finally rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she looked over at the edge of the desk closest to the bed. On it was a bottle of water and some painkillers. Still fighting off the lingering sleepiness, Adora sat up slowly and clambered over to the edge of the bed. It wasn’t until she took a long swig of water that she realized how dehydrated she was. Meanwhile, Catra stood in the makeshift kitchen, tipping some coffee grounds into a pourover. She was wearing one of Adora’s old t-shirts, so big on her it could be a dress.

At the creaking of the bed, Catra turned around. Adora was sure she looked just as bad as she felt. But the way that one corner of Catra’s lips turned up when she saw her made her feel a little better.

“Hey,” Catra said simply. “Drink some water before you have any coffee.”

“Hey,” Adora said, her voice still hoarse from disuse. “Thanks.”

Catra hummed in response, focused on her task of making a second cup of coffee with the pourover. Adora downed the two pills on the desk with another long swig of water.

“Someone’s a morning person today,” Adora joked, but with her still-groggy voice it sounded more mournful than anything. 

“It’s noon, dude.”

“Oh.” Adora smoothed her hand over her forehead and checked her phone. Sure enough, it said 12:28. Oops. She guessed her morning workout would have to wait until tomorrow.

Catra chuckled as she sauntered over to the counter where Adora had assembled a makeshift kitchen. She grabbed a box of pop tarts-- Adora smiled, since she knew Catra knew it was her favorite junk food— and chucked one in the toaster. Adora made her way over and plopped down at the table while she waited.

Now that she was more awake, Adora’s head was spinning with fuzzy memories from the night before. She remembered Glimmer and Bow at the party, and laughing so hard she cried. At what, she couldn’t recall. And then she remembered Catra walking her home, and face planting into bed and… she gulped, remembering hurriedly taking off both her shirt and leggings. And she remembered Catra laying down in front of her, letting her wrap her arms around her and play with her hair… and then she didn’t remember anything after. 

Surely that last part had been a dream. The Catra she knew wouldn’t have let Adora close enough to do any of that. 

“Hey,” she cleared her throat while Catra busied herself in the kitchen, “did we cuddle last night?”

Catra snorted in disbelief. “Uh, no? You must have blacked out or something. Which reminds me, you should’ve been keeping better track of how many drinks you had anyway. We got back and you fell asleep almost immediately.”

Adora raised an eyebrow. She didn’t have total confidence in her recollection of last night, but she was pretty sure that that wasn’t entirely true. Probably just trying to deflect, like always. “What, were you scared to walk home by yourself last night?”

Catra turned on her heel, plate in hand with an indignant frown on her face. “I was making sure your dumb ass wasn’t going to get sick in the middle of the night. You’re welcome, by the way.” She stormed back around to continue making herself a pop tart. 

“Sure,” Adora said lazily, knowing she’d struck a nerve. “But like, I was just in my bra and underwear when I woke up. What was that about?”

“What, you think _I_ did that?” Catra scoffed. “You were just being dumb. As soon as we got back you started taking your clothes off-- the blinds were open, you know. You should really be more careful about that, but luckily no one was around to see.” 

Adora _did_ remember discarding her leggings and top after getting back because she’d been way too warm. In the middle of the night, she’d awoken in her bra and underwear and was incredibly confused for a few long seconds before the hazy memories had come flooding back. After this realization, she had somehow managed to slip her arm out from under Catra without waking her and exchanged the bra for a sleep shirt and shorts. And when she’d gotten back into bed, she had contemplated whether to return to the same position for several minutes. Just as she’d resigned herself to turning over and holding her pillow, Catra had shifted in her sleep back on top of her free arm, so that decision had been made for her.

She had mostly been saying it to push Catra’s buttons (an old habit, and one that she felt entitled to given all the shit Catra constantly gave her). But something that she didn’t remember quite as well made her pry a little more.

“Let’s go back to the part where I was being dumb. Explain.”

“It’s nothing,” Catra said, turning back to her task at the kitchen counter. “You were being drunk, that’s all. Next time, the least you could do is warn me so I know to keep a closer eye on you. Now do you want your pop tart or not?”

Adora nodded, accepting the plate sliding across the table. Another thing she remembered-- that she decided not to bring up-- was telling Catra that she was cute. 

_Oh Adora, why did you do that_ , she wondered miserably. _That’s a great way to freak her out. It’s lucky she even stayed over at all_. 

She harkened back to waking in the middle of the night with her arms draped over Catra’s hips. A warm feeling spread through her chest for a moment before she made herself snap out of it. 

They were friends; they’d known each other all their lives. She wasn’t sure why she’d been getting weird around Catra lately for no good reason, but she pushed the nagging feeling to the back of her mind. She’d never do anything to jeopardize their friendship. Even if she did want to say something, Catra was pretty much the queen of avoiding talking about her feelings.

 _We’re best friends_ , Adora thought to herself. She tried not to pay too much attention to the way Catra’s hips swayed as she searched for something in the cabinets. _Best friends can cuddle and have sleepovers and breakfast together. And play with each other’s hair. This is just how we are. Just normal best friend stuff._


	2. 2// it's better, you and i

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took a while everyone! i ended up rewriting a good chunk of this chapter so i hope the wait was worth it. enjoy some chill college bonding ft. catra meeting the rest of the group! this one mostly focuses on bow and glimmer's dynamic with catra and adora, but the other alliance folks and the super pal trio will have some more interaction in later chapters. thank you for the kudos and comments, they keep me motivated!
> 
> chapter title from "pink skies" by LANY
> 
> p.s. bonus points to anyone who catches the reference to upper west side by ceruleanstorm ;-)

best friend squad💞

From: ✨glimmer✨

don’t forget!! Midterm study group tomorrow at 3!

From: Adora

I’ll be there! :)

From: Bow 💘

Let’s get these As 💞

As she locked her phone, Adora couldn’t help but smile. She’d met Bow and Glimmer by chance; It was a fluke, really. They’d been grouped together in an icebreaker game during Welcome Week, and seeing that Adora didn’t know anyone (Catra was assigned to a different orientation group) they’d taken her under their wing. Afterwards, they had invited her to eat dinner with them, and they had hit it off immediately. They’d also introduced her to their budding friend group, which had been a little overwhelming at first-- but everyone was so welcoming that she quickly began to feel more at ease. 

It was nice to have a guaranteed group of people to hang out with. Welcome Week was filled with one event after another, all aiming to introduce the new students to campus, and it was great to not have to go alone. By the time she’d managed to drag Catra to the carnival celebrating the end of welcome week, she’d really started to have fun hanging with Bow, Glimmer, and their new friends.

Catra had taken a little more convincing. 

_3 weeks earlier_

“I don’t want to,” Catra had said for probably the tenth time that night. 

“We’re already walking there,” Adora pointed out as they trudged toward main campus.

“Yeah, well, it doesn’t mean I want to,” Catra huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest. Adora could drag her to this, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t complain as much as she wanted.

“Aww, so you’re only doing this because you want to hang out with me? How embarrassing.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Catra scoffed. “The only reason I’m not staying in my room tonight watching bad movies is because there’s free food.”

“It’s not even going to be good food, so that’s not convincing me. Just watch, you’ll have fun.”

“Fun. Right.” Catra snorted. “You want to know what would be fun? Scorpia and Entrapta are both out tonight. I could have had my room all to myself. Do you have any idea how nice that would’ve been? But _nooo,_ someone just _had_ to introduce me to all her new best friends.”

“Mmhmm,” Adora said noncommittally, tapping away at her phone at lightning speed. The notifications from the group text kept buzzing every few seconds as they figured out where to meet. 

“Are you even listening?” Catra asked, waving a hand in between her phone and her face. 

“Yeah, you were saying something about being a buzzkill.” Adora finally looked up at her with the audacity to _wink._

Catra glared at her. “I fucking hate you.”

Adora smiled that stupid, dazzling smile of hers. “Love you too!” She chirped before turning her attention back to her phone. 

Catra sighed. This was going to be a long night. 

-

Operation: Merge Friend Groups was underway. Now that she’d been spending so much time with Glimmer and Bow and starting to get to know their other friends better, Adora figured it was as good a time as any to introduce Catra.

Well, that was if Catra cooperated. Which, honestly, the odds weren’t great. But she could try. 

Her best friend and her soon-to-be-best-friends couldn’t ignore each other’s existences forever, right?

Catra hadn’t retreated home yet, and they were just getting to main campus, so that was something. She spotted the group at their meet-up spot and resisted the urge to jog over. 

“Hey, guys!” Adora waved as she walked up. She found them a spot in the growing circle and cleared her throat. “Uh, everyone, this is Catra. Catra, this is everyone.”

Adora looked over just in time to see Catra raise a hand in a halfhearted wave. “Hey,” she said simply. Everyone responded with overlapping greetings.

“So glad you could come, Adora!” Glimmer said, bounding over to give her a hug. Given how much shorter Glimmer was, Adora had been surprised the first few times her hugs felt like they could crush bone. Now she was starting to get used to it. “And Catra, nice to meet you!”

“Likewise,” Catra said, and Adora could hear the echo of sarcasm in her voice. Luckily, Glimmer didn’t try to hug her; Adora let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. With Catra being touch averse to just about everyone, that _definitely_ wouldn’t have gone well. She just prayed that Catra wouldn’t bring out her proverbial claws tonight. She knew this wasn’t her usual crowd, but she wanted them to all get along. As much of a pipe dream as that probably was. 

“We’ve heard so much about you,” Bow said, situating himself next to Glimmer. “All good things, of course!” He added with a little wink. 

“Lovely,” Catra replied incredulously, baring her teeth in a way that was more a grimace than a smile. 

“C’mon, let’s get in line for some of the games!” Glimmer said, already hanging on to Adora’s forearm. 

“Oh, uh, okay!”

Glimmer dragged Adora away before she had time to protest. They got in line for something that Glimmer had scoped out, but Adora honestly didn’t see what it was. She was too busy keeping an eye on Catra, who was now talking-- albeit a bit reluctantly, based on the body language-- to Bow.

“Adora, you’re up!” Glimmer said suddenly, elbowing her in the side.

Adora tried to refocus on the game; it was relatively easy, once she got the hang of it. She’d never been particularly graceful, but she _was_ good at things requiring athletics. Within a few tosses she’d scored high enough to win a prize. Glimmer whooped when she scored the final point.

“Way to go, Adora! I just _knew_ you’d be good at this one.”

Adora sent a sheepish grin Glimmer’s way and thanked the attendant who handed her a prize. The t-shirt wasn’t really her size, and it was plastered with their college’s logo, but it’d be nice as a sleep shirt.

“Hey, do you want this?” Adora asked as she and Glimmer walked between the booths. She got the feeling Glimmer was sizing up all the games to see which ones Adora could win.

“Me?” Glimmer asked disbelievingly as she turned her attention back to her. “Come on, it’s your prize!”

“I have plenty of shirts, really,” she replied, holding it out Glimmer’s way. “Plus, I think pink is more your color than mine.”

“You sure?” Glimmer asked, still incredulous.

“Of course.”

“Thanks,” Glimmer said with a genuine smile as she finally accepted it from Adora. “Bow keeps stealing my old shirts and making them into crop tops. So this’ll be put to good use.”

Adora couldn’t help but laugh; that sounded just like Bow.

Speaking of, they’d lost sight of the rest of the group now. Adora tried to calm her nerves at Catra being alone with everyone. If anyone in that group could get Catra to talk, it was probably Bow. His warmth, persistence, and puppy dog eyes could get to anyone given enough time. So it was probably fine, right?

That’s what she told herself as they made their way through the booths. They tried a couple more games, but they didn’t get as lucky as the first time. Eventually, they looped back to the start of the fairway, and the rest of the group came into sight again.

“Bow, look at the shirt Adora won me!” Glimmer nearly squealed as she rushed over to him. Adora shot a glance at Catra; she looked a little bored, but otherwise not worse for wear.

“Hey, nice one, Adora! Oh, that _is_ cute,” he said, putting his fist against his chin in thought.

“Don’t even _think_ about stealing it!” Glimmer replied, although she looked too pleased to really care at the moment.

“We were thinking about going on some of the rides, if you guys want to come?” Bow asked, gesturing over his shoulder to the temporary carnival rides on the quad.

“I’m getting kind of hungry, actually,” Adora smiled. That was a lie; her stomach had been in knots for a while now, killing her appetite, but she knew she _should_ eat something. Plus, it was a good excuse to get away for a few minutes. “We’re gonna go grab some food and meet up with you in a bit, okay?”

“Okay!” Glimmer said brightly, already tugging Bow by the elbow to some other booth. 

Adora let out a breath of relief. She hadn’t anticipated just how worried she’d be about everyone getting along.

“Come on, let’s get you your free food,” she said over her shoulder, already starting in the opposite direction they’d come. Catra followed with a shrug.

They only walked a little bit before finding one of the food vendors. It was generic free event food, but it would do. Adora lined up behind the last gaggle of freshmen as Catra followed suit.

“I’m glad you were finally able to meet Glimmer and Bow,” Adora offered. “Aren’t they great?”

“Yeah, _finally_ ,” Catra snorted. “You’ve known them for a week and you’re all ready to move in together.”

“Oh come on,” Adora said, elbowing her gently in the ribs. She felt more comfortable now that it was just the two of them; this was a dynamic she knew how to navigate. Nothing like waiting for whatever horrible thing would happen when Catra and Glimmer decided they didn’t like each other. “They’re so nice! It’s really great to get out of our high school bubble, you know?”

“Speak for yourself.” Catra rolled her eyes, leaning against the temporary metal fencing of the queue. They inched forward in line as more students were given their food. “Your roommates didn’t go to your high school. Oh wait, you don’t _have_ any roommates,” she continued bitterly.

Adora laughed. “I’m sorry that I got a single and not you. But that just means you can come over whenever.” She stepped forward with the shuffling line. “Also, it’s not like you and your roommates knew each other in high school. And you’re lucky that you got paired up with nice people. You could’ve gotten someone awful. I’ve heard horror stories.”

“Yeah, they’re _real_ nice.” Catra deadpanned at Adora. “They’re a lot, is what they are.” 

“Come on, I’m sure it’ll get better throughout the year. It can’t be all bad.”

“God, Sparkles and Arrow must be rubbing off on you. You’re not normally this peppy,” Catra rolled her eyes.

“It’s Bow and Glimmer.”

“I know.”

“Look,” Adora said after a pause. “Thanks for coming to this. I know it’s not really your thing, but I really like hanging out with them, and I like hanging out with you, so I thought it’d be nice.”

Catra quirked an eyebrow. “I would _hope_ you like hanging out with me, or else I’ve been wasting the past ten years.”

Adora laughed; Catra had been relatively quiet tonight, so hearing her sarcasm felt like a return to normal. And that did make her feel a bit better, at least. “Yeah, well, you know. You don’t have to be best friends with them, I mean, but I wanted you to meet them.”

She shrugged in reply. “I think I can manage in small doses for now. And you seem to get the worst of it. At least from Sparkles.” She placed her palms on the fence and rocked back on her hands. “I’ll use you as a human shield if she gets too crazy.”

Adora snorted. “Deal.”

The rest of the night seemed to go surprisingly okay. Adora felt her anxiety slowly beginning to wane, and she managed to spend the remaining time switching between leaving Catra to mingle (sparingly) and sticking close by. It helped that Bow asked about Adora’s most embarrassing high school moments, and that really seemed to get Catra on a roll.

She was embarrassed, all right, but at least they were starting to get along.

Maybe her mission had been a success.

In the three weeks following, Adora had dragged Catra along to as many group hangouts as she could stand. Including the frat party, which had been relatively short-lived thanks to Adora getting plastered so early in the night. To be fair, even when Catra didn’t want to hang in a group setting, Bow and Glimmer were pretty unavoidable. Adora had ended up having a class with them, so they’d walk back from the lecture hall together or hang out in her dorm to play video games. Once Adora had assured them that yes, Catra was _always_ this sarcastic to everyone, they’d started to warm up to her more. For her part, Catra’s sarcasm had gone from outright biting to something slightly less pointed. That was as much as Adora could hope for.

At this point, the walk to Bow and Glimmer’s dorm was becoming familiar. Aside from Adora’s dorm, which was best for smaller groups, Bow and Glimmer’s had been the home base for most of their hangouts. When she found herself outside the door to their suite in time for their study party, Bow answered with a familiar toothy grin.

“Hey, Adora! Come on in!” Bow said as he ushered her through the door into their suite’s common area. It was a similar setup to Catra’s dorm: one large living room, with a small kitchen table and chairs, a weirdly colored couch, and a TV. Doors dotted the long hallway that ran across the length of the living room, leading to shared bedrooms and a communal bathroom at the end.

“Thanks for having me over, guys,” Adora said as she and Bow walked over to the door of their room. It was propped halfway open, and Adora saw Glimmer sitting on the bottom bunk pouring over a pile of papers.

“You’re here!” Glimmer clapped her hands together when the two entered the room. “Thank god! We’ve been stuck on this one part of the study guide. We figured you might have a better idea at what the prof meant by this.”

Adora dropped her bookbag gently on the floor and sat on the edge of the bed. She narrowed her eyes to see the bullet point Glimmer was pointing at.

“Oh yeah, that was weirdly worded,” Adora remarked, retrieving the matching study guide from her bag and turning to the same page. “I was kind of confused what he meant by that, but maybe the notes from the next lecture will help?”

So the three of them set to work. The mess of papers on Glimmer’s bed quickly expanded to take over different parts of the room. Soon they had several pages of notes, study guides with scribbled additions in the margins, and laptops with the recorded lectures littering the floor. 

An hour or two in, Adora stood up to stretch her legs. Despite the pillow that Bow and Glimmer had given her to sit on, she felt sore from being hunched over. She took a moment to get the blood flow going again before realizing it might be time for a quick break. 

“I’m gonna go get some more water, I’ll be right back!” Bow and Glimmer just nodded, barely looking up from what they were writing. 

While she was topping off her water bottle in the dorm’s communal kitchen, Adora heard a buzz on the countertop that signalled a text.

_From: Catra_

_what r u you doing tonight_

_I’m bored_

Adora snorted. Of course she was. What, she had nothing better to do than text her?

_From: Adora_

_Studying with Bow and Glimmer, remember?_

It only took a few seconds to get a response.

_From: Catra_

_God adora, it’s only week 3, do you HAVE to be such a nerd already_

Adora rolled her eyes. What, just because _she_ didn’t wait until the 12 hours before a test to cram, she was the nerd here? What was so wrong with that?

_From: Adora_

_Our history midterm is next week dude. I told you that earlier today_

_From: Catra_

_What kind of professor gives a midterm in week 4 anyway_

_That’s bullshit_

_From: Adora_

¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

When she returned to Bow and Glimmer’s room, the two were chatting excitedly. From their tone, Adora doubted it was about their study guide. _I see they didn’t get much done while I was gone. Not that I’m surprised or anything._

“Hey, so we were thinking of re-doing Glimmer’s hair tonight,” Bow informed her as she reentered the room. “Do you want to hang out after we’re done studying?”

“Oh, sure!” Adora replied. “I didn’t know you did your own hair, Glimmer! That’s awesome.”

“Yeah,” Glimmer shrugged, “I’ve been doing it myself since like sophomore year of high school. My mom had a fit the first time, but eventually warmed up to it. And it’s way too expensive to do at a salon, so I’ve gotten pretty comfortable doing it. And Bow has been my right-hand hair stylist for a few years now.” She cast a glance towards Bow, who gave a thumbs up and flashed a perfect smile. “It’s much better when I have someone to help out! It probably won’t be that exciting, but you’re welcome to hang out if you don’t have anything to do!”

“We might even have a little bit of dye left over,” Bow grinned. “We could help you do yours if you want! It wouldn’t be enough to do your whole head, but probably a little section?”

“Oh, mine?” Adora grabbed her ponytail and looked at the ends. “Don’t you have to like, bleach it or something first?”

“Not with yours, it’s light enough that you’d get some color without bleaching it,” Glimmer said as she examined Adora’s hair. “It wouldn’t last long, maybe a couple of weeks at most, and wouldn’t be as bright as mine. We could even do something close to your neck so it’s not as noticeable, if you’re worried about that. But I think it’d be cute!”

“No pressure, though,” Bow added.

Adora paused to consider it. “I guess that could be kind of fun. Do you guys think it would look okay on me?”

“Um, totally!” Glimmer exclaimed. “Here, I have an idea… let me find it.” She opened an app on her phone and scrolled through for a few seconds before finding something. “Here!” She proclaimed, passing the phone towards Adora. “Something like this, maybe?”

Adora looked at the picture. It was a girl with similar hair to hers, which had been pulled up to show a layer of purple peeking through the underside of her ponytail. It looked nice on her; As long as it was somewhere inconspicuous, and faded out quickly, what did she have to lose?

“Okay, yeah! Let’s do it.” Adora smiled, and Glimmer beamed. 

“Yes! I’m so excited. It’s going to look great on you!” Glimmer nearly squealed. “Okay. Just have to get through some studying first, then comes the fun stuff!”

“You know, you could invite Catra if you want,” Bow shrugged. 

“Really? Oh, that’s nice of you guys to offer. I can see what she’s up to.” She was already pulling out her phone, even though she knew from Catra’s previous texts that she didn’t have much to do tonight.

“We could even help her with her hair, too!” Glimmer clapped her hands together. Adora snorted, earning a confused look. 

“Oh, sorry, I— she doesn’t let anyone touch her hair, like ever, so I doubt she’d be down for that part. But I’m sure she’d still really appreciate the offer.” _If by “appreciate” you mean laugh her ass off, then sure._

Adora decided to pass the chain of events on to the person in question. 

_From: Adora_

_Oh we’re dyeing Glimmer’s hair later too_

_And i guess mine?_

_From: Catra_

_huh_

_????_

_From: Adora_

_She needs help with her hair dye_

_Bow wants to do something too_

_They offered for me to use some of the leftover dye :0_

_So I think I might do it?_

_From: Catra_

_if you dye your hair pink I s2g I will never talk to you again_

_From: Adora_

_um overdramatic much?_

_Purple, not pink!_

_not all of it, just like a streak or something? Idk_

_From: Catra_

_..._

_wait I have to see this_

_If you fuck it up it’ll be HILARIOUS_

Adora rolled her eyes, but still responded.

_From: Adora_

_You need a haircut? They offered_

_You could do that undercut you’ve been talking about forever. Bow has clippers_

Adora saw the “...” icon for a while before she received any messages. Finally, Catra texted back.

_From: Catra_

_Oh shit i forgot i about that_

_hmmmm_

_they’re cool with me coming over?_

She turned from her phone back to Bow and Glimmer. “Hey, you guys sure you’re cool inviting Catra?” 

“Of course!” Glimmer smiled. “How much studying do we want to do before then? I might need to eat something too.”

“Maybe we can study until the end of unit 5, go to the dining hall, and then do hair stuff? How does that sound?” Bow offered.

“Sounds good to me,” Adora replied. Her fingers were hovering over the phone ready to text Catra back.

_From: Adora_

_Yep! We need to get some more studying done first and eat_

_but i can let you know when we’re starting_

_I’m guessing like 3 hours_

_Their dorm is on the upper west side of campus, you haven’t been yet right?_

_From: Catra_

_Nope_

_Okay yeah let me know when youre ready and ill head over_

“Okay, cool. She said to let her know when we’re getting the hair dye stuff ready.”

“Nice!” Bow pumped his fist in the air. “Is she going to participate, or just hang out?”

“If you’re okay sharing your clippers, she might do an undercut,” Adora replied.

“Oh, wow! An undercut? That would probably look _so_ cool on her,” Bow gushed, his eyes nearly sparkling.

“Yeah, she’s been wanting to do it for a while. Now that she’s in college she actually can.” 

“Strict parents?” Bow asked, wincing a bit. 

“You could say that,” Adora said dryly, fingers tapping across the screen as she texted Catra back. “If she did anything remotely like an undercut it would have been a bad time.”

“Well it sounds like now’s the perfect time, then,” Glimmer replied. “Alright. Let’s do this!” she said as she pumped her fist in the air.

“After studying,” Bow added gently.

“Right. After studying,” Glimmer affirmed with a thumbs up.

Over the next few hours, they managed to work through to the end of unit 5 on their study guide. Satisfied for the night, they took a short break to grab pizza at the nearby dining hall and ate sprawled out on the floor of Bow and Glimmer’s room. Adora and Bow cleaned up as Glimmer started gathering materials for their hair dye project. Adora heard a grunt, and looked over to see Glimmer struggling to reach a box at the top of her closet.

“Hey, do you need help?” Adora chuckled. 

“No, I think I got it-- almost-- damn it!” Glimmer swiped for the bin but just missed. She huffed. “It’s just barely too tall. If I was like, an inch taller, I’d be able to.”

“I got it,” Adora laughed, striding over to the closet and grabbing the bin with ease. Glimmer whistled.

“Bow, she’s giving you a run for your money,” Glimmer said with her arms crossed in front of her chest. Adora handed her the bin.

“Hey! We can’t all be Amazons, okay?” He said accusingly. Adora felt herself blushing.

“I’m not-- I’m only 5’10”,” Adora stammered, embarrassed. “It’s not that tall.”

“Not that tall?” Glimmer scoffed. “I’m 5’2. Like, are you serious? I’m sure you’re everyone’s tall friend. I would kill to be your height.”

Adora ducked back under the wooden bedframe to sit cross-legged on the bunk. She could feel her shoulders instinctively hunching over as she was suddenly very aware of her height. “Uh, thanks? It has its perks, I guess.”

But Glimmer didn’t notice, because she was already rummaging around in the bin, setting aside a few containers and tools. 

“Okay! That should be everything. You might want to wait to text Catra for a bit, I need to bleach my hair first and that can take a while.” Adora nodded.

For the next forty minutes, Adora and Bow sat chatting with Glimmer in front of the huge bathroom sink as she bleached her roots. Adora had to give her props, because she didn’t know if she’d ever have the guts to bleach her own hair.

“Alright!” Glimmer said after she’d finished rinsing out the bleach and blown her hair dry. “Now it’s time for the fun part! Do you want to text her now?”

“Sure,” Adora offered, pulling out her phone and opening the messages. She just noticed the ones that had been left unread. 

_From: Catra_

_Are y’all almost ready or??_

_Adora?_

_Princessssss_

_…_

_Oh my fucking g o d_

_From: Adora_

_Ok we’re ready_

_Sorry, glimmer had to do bleach and stuff too so it took a bit!_

_From: Catra_

_took you guys long enough smh_

_I’ll leave now. Which building is it_

Adora relayed the directions to Catra as Bow helped Glimmer section her hair with clips.

“Oh, Adora! You should borrow one of my shirts if you don’t want to get any dye on yours,” Glimmer waved her hand toward the exit of the bathroom, but wasn’t able to move her head much as Bow clipped her hair. “Um, if you look in the dresser on the right side of the room, 2nd drawer, it has a bunch of old t-shirts in there. Feel free to grab any one.”

“Oh, okay! Thanks!” Adora headed off to their room. She grabbed an oversized tie dye shirt from the drawer and pulled it on over her own. When she got back to the bathroom, Glimmer and Bow had both donned disposable gloves and were working the dye into her hair.

“Okay, once we get the dye on me, we’ll help you with yours, Adora! It should just be a few minutes.”

“Sounds good,” Adora said as she leaned on the bathroom counter. Adora watched as Bow and Glimmer worked in opposite directions, slowly covering Glimmer’s hair in pink and purple. They struck up a conversation about how their other classes were going while she waited for them to finish.

Just as they were handling the last few sections, she saw a text from Catra.

_From: Catra_

_Here_

_I think?_

_Does the door have a sign that says “best suite ever”_

_?_

Adora snorted. That sign had gone up during welcome week and somehow had made it this far without getting torn down by rowdy freshmen. She quickly tapped a response to Catra.

_From: Adora_

_Yup, be right there_

“I’ll be back, I’m going to let her in,” Adora said, and Glimmer shot her a thumbs up. Adora pushed off of her spot against the counter and headed out to the suite door. When she opened it, she was greeted by the sight of Catra leaning against the wall and looking at her phone.

“Hey.” She said, eyes darting up from her phone. “Best suite ever, huh?” She smirked. “Looks like they’re rubbing off on you, too. Literally.” She gestured to the tie dye shirt that Adora had borrowed.

Adora just rolled her eyes and moved aside to let her step in. “C’mon, we’re over here and I think Glimmer is almost ready to help me do my hair.”

Catra followed her in. “Sounds like I got here for the good part then.”

“Hi, Catra!” Bow waved a dye-stained glove when they rounded the corner to the bathroom.

“Hey.” She jerked her chin in acknowledgment, hands in her pockets. 

“Hey!” Glimmer responded through the mirror, still facing away as she checked the last few spots of her hair. She gingerly stretched a showercap over it, trying not to spread hot pink dye anywhere. Turning her gloves inside out, she set a timer on her phone. “Okay Adora, it’s your turn! Bow, do you want to go get the clippers?”

Adora nodded, taking Glimmer’s place in front of the mirror and letting her hair down from her ponytail. Bow headed out for their room and returned a minute later with a black case. He started laying out the clippers and guards as Glimmer started sectioning off Adora’s hair.

“How much of it do you want to be purple?” Glimmer questioned.

“Uh, I don’t know. Not too much? The picture you showed me was good. I don’t really know much about hair stuff, so whatever you think?”

Glimmer nodded purposefully and clipped most of Adora’s hair on top of her head. One section towards the nape of her neck was hanging loose. “How’s that?” 

“Looks good to me,” Adora shrugged. Glimmer agreed and pulled on a new pair of gloves.

“Alright, here goes nothing!” She reached into the pot of violet dye and began to smear it on Adora’s hair. She distributed it along the length of the hair before reaching in for more.

In the mirror, Adora spotted Catra with her arms crossed. “Well, princess,” she drawled, “No going back now.”

Adora rolled her eyes, but Bow cut in by asking Catra how she wanted to do her undercut. She leaned forward to look in the mirror at the side of her head. The two of them discussed how short to go as Glimmer continued smoothing dye on Adora’s head.

“Annnddd…. We’re done!” Glimmer proclaimed a few minutes later as she finished the last section of Adora’s hair. Adora turned her head to the side to get a look at the purple.

“Now what?” Adora questioned.

“Now we wait. You’ll be done a few minutes after me. And then you’ll wash it out. Don’t worry, we have extra towels and stuff.”

“Okay!” Adora said, resisting the urge to touch the bright purple section. When they turned back to Bow and Catra, she was already sectioning off her hair with the leftover clips and a hair tie.

Catra checked her work in the mirror from a few different angles. Seemingly satisfied, she accepted the clippers from Bow with a nod and flicked them on. They hummed as they came to life.

“Well, let’s hope this works,” She said as she held the clippers next to her head. And just like that, the buzzing was moving against her scalp, and long curls were falling to the floor.

She turned her head as she worked, and they switched to a lower setting to get a closer shave. Adora (nervously) helped her get the hard-to-reach spots around her ear. She’d insisted that Bow was probably better at this since he’d done it before, but Catra insisted she could only trust Adora with something potentially dangerous that close to her face.

Once they were done, Catra admired her work. She tossed the rest of her hair to the opposite side and brushed some of the stray hairs onto the counter.

“Well?” She said, looking pointedly at Adora. “Does it look okay?”

“Yeah!” Adora said. “Can I touch it?”

Catra snorted. “I guess?” Adora ran her fingers over the buzzed part, feeling the short hairs tickle her fingers.

“It looks really cool,” she smiled, as if that had confirmed her approval. Glimmer and Bow nodded enthusiastically in response. Bow started cleaning the clippers so he could use them next. Adora helped Catra gather the excess hair that had fallen to the floor.

“So, Catra, I don’t think Adora’s mentioned your major?” Glimmer asked.

“Oh, uh, I’m undeclared.” Catra shoved her hands back into her jacket pockets once they’d finished cleaning and washing up. “Still figuring it out. What about you guys?”

“I’m poli sci, Bow is mechanical engineering,” Glimmer offered. The low buzz of the clippers flicked back on in the background as Bow started on his own hair.

“My dads both wanted me to do history, but I just don’t think I can do it.” He sighed dramatically. “That’ll be a fun conversation.”

“Wait, they don’t know?” Catra raised an eyebrow. “Why not? Didn’t really expect you to be the ‘lying to your parents’ type.”

“They’re both history professors,” Glimmer cut in. “Well, archaeology and linguistic anthropology, to be exact. Bow comes from a long line of academics.”

“But you want to be an engineer, shouldn’t they be, like, happy about that? That’s pretty academic.”

Bow sighed. “It’s different with them. I think they’ll come around eventually, but all my other siblings have gone the history route, so they just expect me to do that, too.” 

Catra gritted her teeth and sucked in a breath. “Good luck with that.”

“Thanks,” Bow said, but looked miserable for a few seconds before snapping out of it. “Ugh, I don’t want to think about it. There's going to be a _lot_ of crying from Lance and George during that conversation.”

Adora sent a sympathetic half-smile in his direction. Catra just winced.

The sudden beeping of the timer on Glimmer’s phone interrupted their thoughts.

“Oh! That’s our timer! We need to grab some towels from the room, do you guys want to hang in there while we shower?”

“Sure,” Catra shrugged. Everyone followed Glimmer back to the room, and she started rooting around in the closet for towels while Catra looked around.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me. _You guys_ got a double, and I didn’t? Ugh,” Catra moaned. “I swear to god, I’m the only fucking person that got a triple in this whole college.”

“A triple, huh? That’s some pretty bad luck,” Bow joked. “You’re rooming with Scorpia and Entrapta though, right? How’s it going living with them?”

“They’re alright, they’re just... a lot.”

“Aw, come on!” Adora said, clapping Catra on the back. “She’s being dramatic. Scorpia and Entrapta are super nice. They just have a lot of energy, that’s all.”

“That’s the understatement of the century,” Catra rolled her eyes.

“Well, I’m sure it’ll get better as the year goes on,” Glimmer offered. She tossed a towel in Adora’s direction, and she caught it in mid-air. “Feel free to sit, make yourself at home.”

“Thanks.” Catra nodded, presumably looking around for a seat. “Love what you’ve done with the place, by the way.” Her eyes traced the decorations on the walls. Some of the standouts were the 6+ accent pillows on each bed, multiple posters that said “babe” and “good vibes” in rainbow letters, and enough strings of christmas lights to violate the fire code. 

“Thanks!” Glimmer smiled. Adora couldn’t tell if she didn’t understand the snide remark, or just chose to ignore it. “You know, Bow and I made my mom take us on a special trip to get all the decor! My favorite is the floor cushions.” She gestured to a set of tufted velvety pillows on the floor.

“Mmhmm.” Catra’s lips pursed together, and she brushed a stray curl out of her face. “It’s, uh, it’s something.”

Adora shot a look at her. _Be nice,_ it said. Catra’s eyebrow lifted in return.

“Okay, we’ll be back in a few minutes,” Glimmer smiled at them. “Come on, Adora!”

After they’d washed their hair out-- and Glimmer had assured Adora that yes, the water was supposed to be purple and that no, all the dye had not just washed out-- they got dressed again and made their way back to Glimmer and Bow’s room. Adora was still toweling off her hair as she walked in, and she was pleasantly surprised to see Catra and Bow chatting.

“How’d it go?” Bow asked, turning as they entered.

“Good!” Glimmer replied excitedly. “Well, Adora, let’s see!”

“Oh, yeah,” she responded, and lifted up her hair as if putting it in a ponytail. She couldn’t see it herself-- when she’d looked in the bathroom mirror she’d just seen a bit-- but from the reaction she assumed it looked good.

“Wow!” Bow exclaimed, clapping his hands together excitedly. “It looks great! I’m so jealous, I wish I could dye my hair without any bleach!”

“Thanks,” she replied, letting her hair come back down again. She looked at Catra, trying to gauge her reaction.

“What?” Catra said, seeing Adora looking pointedly at her.

“Well?” Adora asked, turning to get a better look in the mirror on the closet door. “What do you think?”

“It’s purple,” Catra said after a half second pause, and Adora just rolled her eyes.

“No shit, dude. Thanks.”

“It is!” Catra said, throwing up her hands defensively. “What else am I supposed to say?”

“I don’t know,” Adora replied, exasperation starting to leak into her voice, “That it looks fine? Literally anything else other than the color that it is?”

“Come on, it’s not that bad,” Catra replied, leaning back on one hand. “You’re being dramatic. It’s nothing like your bowl cut.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Adora sighed. “Nothing can be as bad as that was.”

“I’m sorry, her _what_?” Glimmer asked incredulously, looking between the two of them.

“Her bowl cut,” Catra repeated plainly, sending the most shit-eating smirk Adora’s way. “Oh, what, she didn’t tell you about that?” she continued, keeping eye contact with Adora the whole time as she feigned mock surprise.

“Don’t,” Adora warned. But she had a feeling it was too late.

“Oh, no, _do,”_ Glimmer said, turning her body fully towards Catra now. “Whatever that’s about, I need to know.”

Adora sat down as she sighed. She had a feeling that once Glimmer and Catra had a shared goal, there’d be little she could do to stop them.

Catra laughed. “Adora had long hair in middle school, but it always got tangled, and one day Razz decided that she couldn’t deal with it, so she cut her hair herself. Hold on, I think I have a picture,” she continued, already pulling out her phone to scroll back through her photos.

“Oh my god,” Glimmer breathed, watching over her shoulder as she searched. “You just have a picture ready to go?”

“I have to keep as much blackmail on hand as I can,” Catra said as she shrugged. “Oh, here it is.” She passed her phone to Glimmer, who immediately clapped her hand over her mouth.

“Oh, no,” she said, looking from the phone to Adora and back. “That’s _so_ bad. Sorry, Adora, no offense,” she quickly added.

“It’s fine,” she said, smoothing her hand over her still damp hair as she thought about it. She could still paint a vivid image of that year’s school picture in her head, even without seeing the photo stored on Catra’s phone. “It was bad. Believe me, I know. Never again.”

Glimmer passed the phone to Bow, who couldn’t help but bite down on his lip to hold back a laugh. 

“It’s pretty bad,” he said after a second’s pause, and something about that was what set off the three of them laughing.

“See? Even Arrow agrees with me,” Catra chuckled, and Bow and Glimmer were too busy laughing to correct her on what had now become almost like an affectionate nickname.

Adora rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. Something about seeing Catra, Bow, and Glimmer laughing together made her too happy to care.

It looked like Operation: Merge Friend Groups was shaping up to be a success, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading, please feel free to leave feedback and comments :)  
> (story title from the song "take me on" by joan)


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